What's behind the bank-lending numbers

BNZ's Karna Luke said supply-chain disruption is contributing to weak business demand for loans.

Fri, 11 Jun 2021

Numbers don't necessarily tell you the whole story.New Zealand's largest bank, ANZ Bank NZ, saw net loans and advances increase by $2.14 billion in the year ended March, more than halving from the previous year's $5.24b lending, according to Reserve Bank data.What was even more startling was that Kiwibank, the nation's fifth-largest bank and less than a sixth of ANZ's size, lent more than ANZ in that year at $2.64b.ANZ's net loans and advances at March 31 were $137.49b while Kiwibank's were $24.64b.That meant ANZ'...

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